Clean production approaches in industries: a case study on pulp and paper production facility applications

Abstract

Abstract The sustainability of life and economy is directly dependent on natural resources, and the effects of the use of these resources are felt on both ecology and the economy. As scarce and valuable resources such as raw materials, energy, and water constitute the basic inputs of the economy as well as life. Resource use not only causes increasing pressure on natural resource reserves and adversely affects the environment, but also affects national and international trade and market prices. The efficient and sustainable use of raw materials, energy, and water by both reducing the impact on the environment and producing more value by using less input also contributes to the sustainability of production and therefore the economy. Especially in the second half of the 20th century, the destruction of environmental values brought about by rapid technological and industrial developments and the rapid decrease of non-renewable resources continue to accelerate today. The rapid industrialization that started with the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century and the unstoppable increase in the world population caused production and consumption to increase at the same rate. In parallel with the changes in industrialization and lifestyles, the wastes have shown a logarithmic increase over time and the local environmental problems due to these wastes have gained a global dimension. The uncontrolled discharge of these wastes continued for years until it was understood that there was a limit to the capacity of nature to accept the wastes generated after production and consumption. Thinning of the ozone layer, global warming, acid rain, toxic and hazardous waste discharges in quantities far above the absorption capacity to various natural receiving environments can be counted within this scope. One of the reasons for the increase in environmental problems has been the very high cost of investments based on the end-of-pipe approach to environmental protection. For this reason, over time, industrial organizations have focused on ‘clean production techniques and practices,’ which is an approach to prevent waste at its source. It has been observed that the industries that have started Clean Production Practices and allocate a budget for investments when necessary, amortize this cost in a short time as it saves water and energy from the cost of waste treatment, and therefore the application area is expanding day by day. It has been understood that clean (sustainable) production can be applied to all type of industries, including small and large, regardless of material, energy and water consumption levels. Observations show that this approach offers the potential to reduce resources by an average of 10–15% without costly investments. Therefore, in this study, the clean production (CP) approaches in different industries will be discussed with details and CP practices of the pulp and paper production facility will be evaluated in this context.